Cedar City police now investigating double-homicide

Crime • A man, woman were fatally shot; a male resident of the home is a "person of interest."

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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Cedar City police are now investigating a double homicide following the death of a second victim Tuesday.

Police said Diann Bailey, 59, died from her injuries after being shot at 386 N. 400 West in Cedar City on Friday.

Jeffery Lane Hardy, 52, was also killed in the shooting.

Police have named Thad Robertson, 54, as the only person of interest in the death of Bailey and Hardy. He was arrested on suspicion of possessing methamphetamine, possessing a deadly weapon by a restricted person and possessing drug paraphernalia. He has not been charged in connection with the alleged homicides.

Officers responded to the home at about 2 p.m. Friday after they received reports about a suicidal man and a possible shooting, according to a news release. Robertson was outside the home when police arrived and told officers there were two people inside, one of whom may have been armed with a handgun. He said at least one had been shot.

When police went inside the home, they found Hardy dead and Bailey suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. She was taken to a local hospital and then flown by medical helicopter to Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, where she died Tuesday.

According to Utah court records, all three of the people involved in the shooting case have lived at the Cedar City home at one time or another: Robertson has lived there since 2006, Bailey listed it as her address in 2007, and Hardy was living there in 2011.

In July 2007, Bailey filed for a protective order against Robertson, but two weeks later asked a judge to dismiss it, according to court records.

Robertson has a criminal record beginning in 1997 with a misdemeanor reckless driving conviction. He pleaded guilty in 1998 to driving under the influence, and in 2001 again pleaded guilty to a DUI. In 2007, he entered a plea in abeyance to a misdemeanor theft charge.

Hardy in 2001 was charged with felony possession of a controlled substance and six misdemeanors. In December 2001 he settled the case by pleaded guilty to a reduced misdemeanor count of attempted possession of a controlled substance, and misdemeanor counts of possession of a controlled substance and DUI. He was sentenced to two years probation, a fine and 10 days in jail.

Earlier in 2011, Hardy pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of threat of violence and was sentenced to probation, which included a domestic violence evaluation.

Bailey's criminal record consists of a 2007 conviction for criminal mischief, for which she paid a fine and completed 12 months probation.

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